Jul 1, 2026
Tim Buckley joined the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) and Renewable Energy Council Asia-Pacific (RECAP) delegation to China.
Before joining the delegation, Tim travelled across China by train — a very fast trip with a friend from Hong Kong, via Chongqing. Nothing beats travelling 12 hours at 300kph across the length of this amazing country to orient himself and see some of the landscape. Chongqing is the largest city in China (and the world), with a population of some 34 million people. Simply incredible and beautiful. Walking the streets of Beijing, Tim played spot-the-ICE-vehicle — green EV number plates abound!
Tim joined the delegation for the Fourth China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) in Beijing. Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng spoke at the opening ceremony, addressing the importance for China of global supply chain stability and security for mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, even as other nations create geopolitical challenges.
Australia was featured as the country guest of honour. Great to
have John Grimes (Renewable Energy Council Asia-Pacific, RECAP) and
Dominic Trindade (Australia Consul-General, Australian Trade and
Investment Commission, Austrade) co-hosting, with Don Farrell,
Trade Minister.
Tim and the delegation were there to see "China Speed, China Scale"
first hand — and even sat in an autonomous flying EV taxi!
Brilliant to meet with State Grid Corporation of China's CEPRI
(China Electric Power Research Institute) RERC team to discuss
energy system transformation trends in China, and how they match
and differ from Australia.
Brilliant to hear China plans to expand variable renewable energy
(VRE) capacity from 1.84TW as of December 2025 to ~3.0TW installed
capacity by 2030. CEPRI estimates China's solar potential at
45.6TW, while onshore wind is estimated at a more modest 3.4TW
(plus 0.5TW of lower-speed wind), offshore wind at 0.4TW in deep
sea (out to 50km offshore), and another 0.36TW of near-shore wind
(at 100 metre height). By 2030, China's 3.0TW VRE capacity will be
just 6% of this 50TW maximum. CEPRI acknowledges this theoretical
maximum is being progressively raised — the higher the tower, the
faster the average wind speed, and generation expands somewhat
exponentially.
By end of 2025, China had 46 HVDC grid transmission lines
operational — that's 46 of the world's roughly 50 largest lines.
Total world leadership, clearly evident, and very impressive.
The Austrade RECAP delegation visited XCMG Group's factory in
Xuzhou, China. XCMG is the number one OEM in mining equipment in
China (with a 2025 share of 33% in domestic mining excavators) and
third globally. XCMG's 2025 revenue reached Rmb90bn, up 897% since
2019, with 2025 net profit of Rmb4.9bn. XCMG's R&D investment
in 2025 was Rmb10.2bn (A$2bn), and the company holds 12,715
patents, including 4,798 domestic and 366 international invention
patents.
XCMG's 15th Five-Year Plan for its mining equipment strategy
targets trebling mining machinery sales to US$6bn a year by 2030,
lifting international sales share to 60% (from 40% in 2025), with
new energy vehicles rising to a 50% share.
China going global: XCMG targets being number one globally in new
energy mining equipment as soon as 2030. Tim has no doubt they will
achieve this. XCMG started as a construction equipment OEM,
expanding to create a separate mining sector vertical with a focus
on new energy vehicles and autonomous operation.
Adjacent to the mining OEM facility is the XCMG and BYD battery
joint venture factory, which targets 100GWh a year capacity. Phase
1 (30GWh) is already in operation, built in just 12 months and
commissioned in December 2023; phase 2 (70GWh) is in preparation.
This factory produces the Blade battery pack, with a long life of
7,000 cycles.
XCMG manufactures the biggest truck in the world, with a
363-tonne payload at a cost of US$15m per unit. XCMG will deliver
its first 240-tonne payload EV to Fortescue in early 2027, with the
full US$1bn order due for commercial delivery commencing 2028.
Tim believes it is time for Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Finance
Minister Katy Gallagher to reform the $4.5bn annual Australian
mining sector imported diesel fuel subsidy to BHP, Rio Tinto and
others, turning this headwind to energy security into a tailwind
for decarbonisation. In his view, PM Anthony Albanese and Industry
Minister Tim Ayres should ignore MCA lobbyist threats — Australia's
Future Made in Australia agenda needs to be powered by domestic
clean energy, not expensive, high-emissions imported diesel.
Brilliant to see XCMG Australia has doubled to 70 staff across two
offices, with a third in Queensland planned. XCMG has already
deployed 500 autonomous trucks globally, mostly hybrid or EV. June
2025 saw XCMG deploy 100 autonomous EV trucks at an Inner Mongolia
open-cut coal mine, with a 90-tonne payload and a six-minute
recharge time. (https://lnkd.in/gRKbaAJY)
XCMG has a MoU for cooperation with Rio Tinto, and is already
delivering mining EV equipment to Rio Tinto's partner in Simandou,
Guinea. XCMG is working closely with Vale and has a new Brazilian
factory with 1,600 workers.
Tim shares a few details on the delegation’s visit to the BYD truck
factory and EV zero to 60 in less than two seconds in a Xiaomi.
China delivers on "China Speed, China Scale" for this Australian
delegation.
Enjoy the podcast.